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Takao woke up with a headache. A sharp, painful sting at the top of his head, piercing it like a dagger intensified even further when he tried to roll over and reach his phone on the night stand. He groaned when he saw it was only 8 in the morning. It was Saturday and he wished he could sleep longer than that. He also realized he was incredibly thirsty. He felt dry, like all his organs tried to shrink in their size. To Takao’s delight, a tall glass of water was waiting for him next to his phone. He did not remember putting it there last night. He did not remember anything at all from last night, to be honest. He tried to sit up in his bed to drink the water and the world spun, making him nauseous. Oh. He went out drinking yesterday. That explained it. He drank the water groggily and lied back down, willing the world to just stop spinning. Maybe if he could sleep a while longer he would feel better. But the sleep never came and the nausea only intensified. Takao did not find the strength in him to get out of bed. Every time he tried, he felt like throwing up.
Takao reached for his phone again, trying to remember details from the night before. It was all foggy and there were several black holes he could not fill in. Actually, most of the night was blank. He texted Midorima, a quick “where u at?” text and sighed. He knew he could try shouting, but his headache protested. And he couldn’t be sure Midorima was home anyway. Sure enough, came a reply. “Running. Be back soon.” Takao sighed and decided to at least try sleep some more.
About twenty minutes later he heard the front door to their apartment opening and closing and not long after Midorima came to the bedroom.
There was a brief silence, where Takao felt inspected under Midorima’s piercing gaze. Suddenly, he felt embarrassed in the poor choices he made. Midorima has always had that effect. Especially when Takao was himself, very aware of his adulting mistakes, like now.
“So…” He started, but Midorima beat him to it.
“How are you feeling?” Midorima asked, carefully sitting on the edge of the bed.
Takao groaned. “Just how I look, I assume.” He did not dare to sit up, fearing the nausea.
Midorima looked at him for a minute and then asked. “Are you going to vomit?’
Takao thought about it. “If I move – then probably.” He tried to lift himself on his elbows, and the world immediately started to dance around him. “My head hurts.” He added, fully aware he was whining like a child. He did not care.
“I brought you some medicine, but I don’t think you should attempt drinking them if you’re just going to throw up later.” Midorima said. “You know, maybe just go and do that.” He added, after a short contemplative pause.
Takao considered it. It might make him feel better, but damn, it was embarrassing. He knew Midorima will not let him forget this. He threw his blanket over his head and peeked at his boyfriend form under the edge of it. Midorima sat there stone faced as always, coolly inspecting and distant. However, Takao knew him best. Midorima was amused.
“Are you laughing at me?” He asked, affronted.
Midorima raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Why do you think that? I have not made any indication of laughter.”
“There!” Takao shouted in a rush, and instantly regretted it, because it was accompanied with intense pounding in his head. “You totally are mocking me. Your ears and nose did the thing.”
“The thing?” Midorima touched his nose absentmindedly. Takao thought it was cute.
“Yeah, the scrunchy thing they do when you’re trying to hold your smile.”
Midorima seemed momentarily taken aback by it, like Takao noticing something he hadn’t noticed about himself was confusing him. And yet, he seemed even more amused now.
“What do you remember from last night?” Midorima changed the subject.
“To be honest, not much.” Takao frowned. “I remember meeting Tetsuya at the bar and then it’s a bit of a blur… or complete darkness, call it what you want.”
Takao watched as Midorima smiled at him, with all too knowing little smirk. He understood Midorima was waiting for him to ask, but he did not dare. Was it so bad? He tried to recollect last night’s events, and failing, finally asked.
“So… what do you know about last night?”
Midorima did not try to conceal his grin any longer. “You sent me snaps.”
“Oh no.” Takao felt his chest filling with dread and blood leaving his face. “Did you save them?”
“Of course not.” Midorima stated, a matter of fact.
Takao squinted a bit. “Is it because you’re a good boyfriend or because you don’t know how?”
Midorima did not reply, which was an answer enough. Takao sighed.
“Okay then. What exactly do you know? Do I need to move to another country?”
“That’s a decision for you to make. I can only freshen up your memory a bit, if you’d like.” Midorima suggested, amusement clear in his voice.
Takao smiled a little bit. He couldn’t help it when Midorima was playful, even if he was mocking him.
He sat up in the bed, slowly, rising one centimeter at a time, trying to keep the world at bay. Midorima jumped up to help him and fluffed Takao’s pillows behind his back. Takao’s heart swelled a little at the feeling of being taken care of, even if it came with a slight sense of shame. It was his own fault after all, to be in the position he was.
“I’ll be right back.” Midorima said and left the room for a full of forty seconds. He came back with a fresh glass of cold water and two pills.
“Drink these if you’re up for it.” He said, placing the water and painkillers on the bed side table.
“Ah, Shin-chan. You are a good boyfriend after all.” Takao mocked a bit. Actual banter would take way too much effort at this point.
Midorima ignored him and took his seat at the end of the bed.
“I did not know Kuroko was such a party animal.” He said, making Takao snort and wince. He assessed his condition and decided his headache was worse than nausea, so he drank the medicine.
“I also did not.” Takao agreed. “To be honest, I don’t think he knew, too.”
Midorima smiled, but tried to cover it with fixing his glasses. “Anyway. I got the first snap when you two met up at the bar. Didn’t think too much of it. You send selfies too often.”
“Oh come on, Shin-chan, that’s unfair.” Takao protested. He remembered that first snap, that was pretty regular for him, to send snaps to Midorima when going out and meeting people.
“You do.” Denied Midorima and before Takao could protest again, continued, “About an hour and a half later, I got a video snap of you and Kuroko walking somewhere, laughing. I thought you were changing bars.”
Takao thought about it. Now, he vaguely remembered leaving the bar and going somewhere… But he did not remember the destination.
“I suppose you do not remember how that happened, either?” Midorima indicated with a nod of his head, pointing at Takao’s forearm.
Takao looked down. His arm was bandaged and sore to the touch. “What the-?” He began to unwrap the bandage, peeling rows and rows of it until he could see a long narrow slash, going almost all the way from his wrist to his elbow. It wasn’t particularly deep, but there was a significant red scar. “How?” He looked up at Midorima, baffled.
Midorima pushed his glasses further up his nose and crossed his arms on his chest. “Peacock.” He said, simply, like it was totally normal.
Takao just stared.
The silence lasted for a few minutes, Takao in shock, Midorima silently having fun.
Finally, Takao spoke, “What do you mean, a peacock? Where the hell did I find a peacock?”
“Ueno zoo.” Midorima answered. Takao just gaped at him, so he continued. “Apparently, you guys broke into the zoo at night. I got a snap saying ‘I’m going to pet a peacock.’ And then one of you, actually petting it.”
Takao looked back down at his arm. “I guess that didn’t go too well.”
Midorima smiled. “Well, after that last snap, I got a video of the bird attacking you, so no. it did not go well.” Takao groaned. “I bandaged your arm when we got home.”
“How did I get home? Did you pick me up?” Takao rubbed his temples.
“Yes, I did, but the story doesn’t end here.” Midorima said and then asked. “Do you want some more water?”
If there was any water left in the glass, Takao would have thrown it at Midorima. “ No, just please tell what else did we do.”
Midorima regarded him for a moment. “I’ll get you some more water.” He said and left the room with the glass.
Takao groaned in frustration and just sulked until Midorima came back, handing him the drink. He did, actually, want it.
“I hope Tetsuya won’t get in trouble with his boss for it… Is he okay?” Takao remembered to ask.
“Yes, the bird did not harm him. He is okay.” Midorima assured. “And he said it should be fine, he used his employee key and you went through the back gate, so no one should notice. The bird is alright.”
“How do you know that?” Takao asked, skeptical.
“He texted me this morning.” Midorima explained.
“Oh…” That was good. “And then it wasn’t technically a break in, if we had the key.”
Midorima just stared him down, making Takao squirm a bit back into his pillows.
“Okay, it was. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.” He muttered, feeling even more embarrassed.
Midorima sighed. “Anyway. After that I tried to call you, but you did not pick up.”
Takao felt himself going pale, again. “Why did I not pick up?” He asked, shyly.
Midorima shrugged. “I suppose you were not in the condition.” He dodged a small cushion thrown his way and continued, “But I got a snap of you two in some kind of tourist gift shop holding Buddha statues.”
“Wait, I think I remember something about that.” Takao interrupted. “I remember the statues… there were a lot of them.”
Takao felt silly for his lack of legit input to the story, but also very entertained by Midorima’s retelling of it. It was like a story that happened to someone else, not himself, and therefore, much more amusing.
“I called Kuroko and he only texted me, saying you two were going on an adventure.” A smirk reappeared on Midorima’s face, indicating that the story was about to get even more embarrassing.
Takao just let it hit him. He leaned back and decided to take it all in and worry about his feelings later. Preferably, when he’s sobered up.
“And that’s how an hour later I got a snap of you in Kamakura.”
“Kamakura?!” Takao choked. “Why?”
Midorima chuckled. “You sent a snap of the Great Buddha statue and wrote ‘we wanted to see if it also has the nipples’.”
After a brief silence Takao burst out laughing. He laughed freely and hysterically, doubling over in bed. As soon as he accepted the story as a story, he could see how absurd it was.
“The … nipples…” He wheezed out in laughter. Even Midorima laughed a bit, not being able to hold it in.
Takao wiped away stray laughter tears. “But why didn’t we just google it? Oh my God…”
“Didn’t you mean Oh My Buddha?” Midorima corrected him.
At that, they both started laughing again. When the last giggles subsided, Midorima cleared his throat.
“Anyway, that’s how you ended up in Kamakura last night.” He spoke.
“Is that it?” Takao raised an eyebrow, almost disappointed that his escapade with Kuroko ended there. But Midorima snorted.
“No. You found your way to the cherry trees then.”
“But it’s November.” Takao cocked his head, frowning.
“Exactly.” Said Midorima. “You sent me a video snap crying, that there were no cherry blossoms.”
“There is no way I was crying because of that!” Takao blushed.
“You cried,” Midorima pointed and continued in a slightly higher voice, trying to mockingly mimic Takao, “because it wasn’t romantic and I want to walk with Midorima here and I want it to be romantic.”
“I so do not sound like that.” Takao huffed.
“You do.” Midorima deadpanned and Takao smiled, because even though he was embarrassed, he was having fun listening to Midorima tell a story – his story – like that.
“Then came my favorite snap of the night.”
“Do I even want to know?” Takao wasn’t sure.
Midorima did not answer, only continued, “It was a video snap, how Kuroko has climbed into one of the cherry trees and couldn’t get down. You were freaking out, because you didn’t know how to get him down. It was hilarious.”
“Why was that, of all things, hilarious?” Takao was a bit confused. It seemed like that was the biggest, realest problem of their night, including the peacock attack.
Midorima looked straight at him, from the top of his glasses. “Because he was on the lowest branch, no more than fifty centimeters up.”
Takao groaned, face in his palms.
“Later you called me from a ramen place in Kamakura, asking me to come pick you up.” Midorima sighed.
Takao looked at him with wide eyes. “And you did? I mean… You drove all the way to Kamakura at night?”
Midorima’s face softened. “Of course I did.”
Takao took his hand into his and squeezed it fondly. Moments like these were when he remembered how much he loved his boyfriend.
“Thank you. I love you.” He said.
Midorima smiled. “I love you, too.” And then he added. “But seriously, you were so out of it, I practically had to carry you to the car and then you both slept all the way home. Next time, try to be more responsible.”
“Why, I have you to take care of me.” Takao teased to which Midorima only shook his head.
“How are you feeling now?” He asked.
Takao thought about it. “Shitty.” He said. “But the headache’s lessened, so a tiny bit better.”
Midorima ruffled Takao’s hair and kissed him on the forehead. “Try to sleep a bit more. I’ll go make some food for you.” And with that he was gone, leaving Takao with a lovesick grin on his face.
Takao laid back down, contemplating actually sleeping for a bit more. But first, he decided to text Tetsuya.
Takao: u alive?
Kuroko: No. Dying.
Takao: Same. Shin-chan told me what happened yesterday. Apparently, I sent him a lot of snaps.”
Kuroko: Is he mad?
Takao: No. He’s actually really nice. Taking care of me, making me food.
Kuroko: Wow. Marry him.
Takao: I might have to.
Takao smiled and cozied up in the bed. He closed his eyes, fully intent on sleeping, when suddenly he remembered, fear washing through him.
“Did I post all this to my snapchat story?!”